Communications

I am requesting historic data on the number of SWAT raids being conducted in Washington by either the Washington State Patrol or with their assistance, going back as many years as data is available. I request that this information be organized by year, city, and cause for the raid.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that fees cannot be waived, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Subject: FW: Freedom of Information Request: SWAT Raids in King County

Email

Mr. Adkins,

Thank you for your inquiry to the Washington State Patrol. Pursuant to RCW 42.56.520, this is notification that we have received your public disclosure request (below). We anticipate it may take up to 30 days from the date of this notification to provide our response. Additional time is required due to the current volume of pending records requests, and to research this request, search for and collect existing responsive records, notify involved parties, and/or prepare records for dissemination.

Although your subject line indicates you are looking for King County data, we understand your request to be for this information statewide. Please let me know if that is not accurate and you are interested in SWAT action in King County only.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me in reference to PD-15-1055-0272.

Sincerely,Gretchen Dolan, CPROWashington State PatrolPublic Records OfficerPO Box 42631Olympia WA 98504(360)596-4137 ext. 11137The Washington State Patrol makes a difference every day, enhancing the safety and security of our state by providing the best in public safety services.

Thank you for your response, and apologies for any confusion regarding the subject line. Yes, I would like this information statewide, but with a breakdown of the location of raids. Please let me know if you have any other questions regarding this request.

Subject: RE: Freedom of Information Request: SWAT Raids in King County

Email

Dear Mr. Adkins,

The Washington State Patrol has completed your records request (below). Attached please find a copy of the public record(s) you requested.

Please refer to the attached redaction log for identification of information that has been redacted or withheld from these records. If you have questions, please contact me in reference to PD-15-1055-0272.

Sincerely,Gretchen Dolan, CPROWashington State PatrolPublic Records OfficerPO Box 42631Olympia WA 98504(360)596-4137 ext. 11137The Washington State Patrol makes a difference every day, enhancing the safety and security of our state by providing the best in public safety services.

Thank you for your inquiry. SWAT case files are only kept 10 years. The information on the spreadsheet was generated from our database, but the actual cases files no longer exist for 2002/2003. I hope this information assists with answering your questions. Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance.

Sincerely,Gretchen Dolan, CPROWashington State PatrolPublic Records OfficerPO Box 42631Olympia WA 98504(360)596-4137 ext. 11137The Washington State Patrol makes a difference every day, enhancing the safety and security of our state by providing the best in public safety services.

Thank you Gretchen. Just for optimal accuracy, can you please confirm whether there were only two SWAT raids in 2002, and three in 2003? Or given your response, shall I assume this information is incomplete, and there were potentially more?

Good morning Mr. Adkins – My contact in this department is out of the office until Monday but I will confirm your understanding with her and be in touch with the answer next week.

Sincerely,Gretchen Dolan, CPROWashington State PatrolPublic Records OfficerPO Box 42631Olympia WA 98504(360)596-4137 ext. 11137The Washington State Patrol makes a difference every day, enhancing the safety and security of our state by providing the best in public safety services.

I have conferred with the SWAT unit. There were more than this number of raids in 2002 and 2003. I have asked the Unit to search for other data sources that may give more detailed numbers, even if those investigative records are past retention and no longer exist. I will be in touch within a week with what we have found. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,Gretchen Dolan, CPROWashington State PatrolPublic Records OfficerPO Box 42631Olympia WA 98504(360)596-4137 ext. 11137The Washington State Patrol makes a difference every day, enhancing the safety and security of our state by providing the best in public safety services.

The SWAT unit has extracted another list (attached). The source of this list is the case tracking system for the WSP. The search was for anything pertaining to SWAT. Unfortunately, this list (and the supporting database entry) do not contain very much detail. For the events where there is no detail, it appears case numbers were pulled in anticipation of a SWAT event, but either no SWAT callout occurred (and the number was never cancelled), or there was limited SWAT involvement and no follow up SWAT data was entered because of that limited role. No information has been redacted or withheld from this list.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,Gretchen Dolan, CPROWashington State PatrolPublic Records OfficerPO Box 42631Olympia WA 98504(360)596-4137 ext. 11137The Washington State Patrol makes a difference every day, enhancing the safety and security of our state by providing the best in public safety services.

Attached please find this record with the best date information available. Given the limitations outlined previously, you will notice some of these do not contain a date. Those entries did not contain that information in the database. Please refer to the attached redaction log for identification of information that has been redacted or withheld from this record.

Please let me know if you have any additional questions.

Sincerely,Gretchen Dolan, CPROWashington State PatrolPublic Records OfficerPO Box 42631Olympia WA 98504(360)596-4137 ext. 11137The Washington State Patrol makes a difference every day, enhancing the safety and security of our state by providing the best in public safety services.